Links to the Present: Reality Edition

This draft has been too highly regarded compared against those of the last four years. The team control and cost-friendly contract is too much of a favorable situation. The potential for doing the rebuild the right way with more than one legitimate All-Star is too much to sacrifice. There are two pieces that are quite untouchable on this team now: Kyrie Irving and the No. 1 pick in this draft.

There is no legitimate reason to think Irving or the number one is being traded even if this is being tweeted:

#Cavs have fielded a couple calls about Kyrie Irving, league sources say. Given talk of max extensions, not surprising teams willing to ask.

Many are worried Irving will bolt the first chance he gets. This would have been a vehicle to lock him up for possibly an additional five years.
Scuttlebutt around the league about the reason they wouldn’t make the offer is two-fold. First, the Cavs are not convinced he’s truly a max player.

The second reason is that “he may not want to be in Cleveland.” This is a load of malarkey. The Cavs will most likely make Kyrie a max offer because that’s what history says happens in situations like this. I’m not sure it’s the smartest thing, so if the team defies past extension traditions for him, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

With all due respect gentlemen, I’m not sure how any of these deals would allow the Cavaliers to get ”radically better much quicker” as general manager David Griffin has stated as their goal. I don’t think the goal is to win the draft, which all these deals would allow them to do. But at what expense and to what end? Would you really trade Kyrie Irving, a two-time All-Star and the reigning All-Star MVP, the best player the Cavs have had since LeBron James left — and more — for an unproven 20-year-old who just finished his third year of organized basketball and is coming off back surgery? Antetokounmpo certainly isn’t going to pick up that slack. I don’t know how good Joel Embiid is going to be. I don’t think anybody really does at this point, although there are plenty of experts singing his praises. But given how long Cavs fans have been waiting for a return to respectability, I just don’t think continually adding youngsters who will take a few years to develop — if they develop — is the way to go unless you want to wait another three to five years to make the playoffs. When and if they decide to trade Irving — and I wouldn’t put too much stock in current rumors about whether they’re not going to offer him the max or he’s not going to accept it — I think they can get much much more for him.

There is no player in the draft that is going to bring the same immediate value Kyrie brings to the team. And that player’s learning curve would put the 8th seed out of reach. No thanks. Steer towards the playoffs playoffs, or immense off-season depression will commence.
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Cavs opposition has a ORtg of 105.5 when he [C.J. Miles] is on the court compared to 108.6 when he is on the bench. He is probably the best defender on the ball the Cavs had prior to the trade for Deng but can lose his man when he doesn’t have the ball. While Miles isn’t exactly a playmaker, he does cycle the ball well on the perimeter. Miles is also capable of playing both at the SG and SF positions, which is obviously a huge asset given the lack of depth the Cavs have had over the years at SF.

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Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Grouphas an article up about the four coaches the Cavs have interviewed so far. Tyronn Lue is looking to be in the lead for the position right now. Lue has been an assistant under Doc Rivers for the past five years. The search seems to be far from over, as every Cavs fan has heard of numerous other candidates for the job.

26 Responses to “Links to the Present: Reality Edition”

For as hyped as this draft has been over the past few seasons there hasn’t been much content nationally since the lottery other than the Embiid and Parker workouts. Things should heat up in the next week or so.

Parker is the obvious answer here. We all know about his talents but mostly he puts the Cavs in a win-win situation. He helps them immediately to compete for a playoff spot today while giving them additional star power that brings their roster talent up to the likes of just about any other team in the league.

Signing a Thabo Sefolosha would be great to bring in defensive minded players to compliment so many offensive minded ones is a good move. The most important move however may be the resigning of Spencer Hawes who spaces the floor and allows for their offensive players to get clear lanes to the rim.

Joel Embiid has great potential but if he underwhelms, it could be too much for this fragile franchise to take after their other fragile top players (Irving, Waiters, Bennett).

I am curious who they bring in to coach these guys. He will have to be an X’s and O’s coach who can maximize this offense more than anything else, while the new General Manager will need to bring in the necessary complimentary defenders (see above) to do the dirty work that allows them to slow other teams down. I think a college style coach would be best as their top players are accustomed to strong coaches in college who have a defined system of play (Jim Boheim, Coach K). Whether Kyrie stays after this season or not, they need to change around the culture of this team much like Charlotte and Washington did by bringing in players who want to win, not set career high stats each night.

Drafting Parker would be a death sentence for our title chances. Whether we ever win one or even get to a conference final with Kyrie here is unknown, but to pair a terrible defensive PG with a terrible defense SF would spell disaster for this team. Especially considering TT and AV would be your starting 4/5, one of which should not be a starter and the other is aging and injury plagued.

Parker is very talented and might help us score more right now, but 1-2 years down the road he won’t be the best pick for this team. I’d prefer Embiid or Wiggins by a mile.

Kyrie for a top 3 pick and a player – i’d do it. Move waiters to run the point with Wiggins at sf/st and embiid in the middle. That’s a defensively strong team right there and if we keep hawes as a stretch 4 at times or if Bennett performs as expexted that could be a strong team. Add sefolosha we arguably have a top 10 defense. A good offfensive system to taake advantage of waiters penetration and hawsestretching floor and embiib pick roll potential. I could see us as a better than average offense year 1. This doesn’t mention the Greek from the bucks giving some quality minuets his second year etc. When you have two potential (maybe 3) trancindent players in this draft – and I don’t think kyrie is that. I think we try to grab two of these guys and take our chances that one is a hofer.

Ok I do not agree with Gordon though that Embiid HAS to be the pick. I’d totally get it and be excited if he was a Cav. I definitely see a role for Wiggins on this team too. One of those two has to be the pick … Parker, meh.

Nupe, the only way Im doing it is for Giannis Antekouhhhh ….. That dude is going to be a BALLER in this league. If we traded Rie for the #2 and Giannis and ran out a starting 5 of

?
Waiters
Wiggins
Antekuompo
Embiid

Is a line up that will win for such a long time in the near future and be exciting as piss to watch until they get there.

or throw in Thompson/Bennett and go with a big lineup

Obivously maybe Thompson would start but that is such a beautiful lineup with soooo much potential. We’d have to figure out the PG position though but it is definitely intriguing. Giannis is going to be awesome.

Slightly disagree with kojo. IF the back looks OK, Embiid has to be the pick.

There has been this goofy theory that big men don’t dominate in the NBA anymore. Sez who? How many times has Tim Duncan gone to the finals? Since he has been in the league, who is in second place for most final appearances? Playoff games? (Can someone crunch the numbers?) If there is a 25% chance that Embiid can be the next dominating big man you have to go for it.

I am a big fan of Antetokounmpo, but I’m not trading KI for him no matter what else I get.

I like Kemba, MKG was almost a CAV once, but didn’t pan out to well. If one of those first rounders was this years 7th (or is it 9th) pick, I would think long and hard about it. Cause we could use that and Bennett or Jack and maybe move up. Maybe even into the top three again. (Unlikely)

If I’m trading Kyrie, even though I don’t think I would, I’m looking for a proven SF/SG. Dion could man the point just fine. I just don’t think it’s the best idea

Why don’t all you guys who think that trading Kyrie is a good idea go back to playing NBA2K14 where I’m sure deals like trading your team’s best player for a lottery pick can actually work to building a virtual contender. Here in the real world we call that stupidity.

I agree Ross, the Kyrie trades are just nonsense, we don’t let a potential MVP player leave, talent doesn’t come by that easily. Especially here. We should make good out of what we have. Which is an understatement, I’d still rather have Kyrie than a bunch of role players…When was the last time a starless team won the ring? (And no, the Pistons had stars, Ben and Rasheed and Billups were all all stars for a reason)Kyrie is still young give him some time. If we give up on him now,how do you expect him to ever develop into the MVP that we hoped he would become, and possibly lead the Cavs to our first trophy.

Ross Gumdrop, Only in NBA2K14 is Kyrie a great player. In reality he was barely the best player (andy and TT were both close) on a 33 win team against an incredibly weak schedule. I’m not saying we’re trading him or that we should, but if you could get a top 3 guy in this draft and another youngin, you’d be crazy not to at least consider it.

Agreed, Chunk. AB15 might have more value as an expiring contract than as a player, right now. You have to commit to developing him if you want to get anything out of that pick, and that includes spending time in the D-League again next year.

Anyone listen to Jason Lloyd’s podcast yesterday? He’s sticking with Parker as the prediction for the number 1 pick. Personally I’m happy with any of the top three. I’m leaning towards Embiid. I talked myself out of all of the centers we’ve passed on leading up to their respective drafts, but JoJo’s been the most intriguing one, hard to say no to. Anyways, I try not to fall too in love with any one player because it’s hard enough for the experts to project what these guys will be. Fans let their imaginations run wild around the draft and go overboard. I do find it suprising just how far off the radar Parker is to most Cavs fans. I really can see him being the pick and everyone losing their minds.

As much as I like Kyrie, I don’t consider him a transcendent talent or even close. Yes, he’s a 2 time all-star (partially because Rondo and Rose were hurt), but his ultra-poor defense, mediocre distribution and continued lack of leadership… combined with his frequent injury issues and lack of significant development etc.

IF trading him could bring us a guy like Wiggins/Embiid who both MAY be transcendent players but certainly should at minimum be very good NBA players, then I think giving up your best player today for somone who can be a leader in the league in a couple of years is worth the risk. Especially if we can get another talent (Antekuompo) in the deal.

This doesn’t even consider the fact that Kyrie MAY not want to be here. I’m not saying we should trade Kyrie, but we should consider the longer term potential by trading him against the immediate desire to win now.

The issue with any project trade is: Is it a good trade? And you cannot be sure, because you cannot predict the future.

KI’s future could go a lot of ways. So far he appears to be on a trajectory of being a high stat guy who never wins anything. There are plenty of them out there. Best case is, he signs with the Cavs and has a mental transformation like Danny Green did (after being cut twice) and kicks it into a much higher level of play. He could still become a top 5 or top 3 player. Worse case is, he never learns D, pouts, etc.

Same is true for high draft choices, even in a really deep year. There is actually a much bigger unknown factor with draft picks. All those guys might have who knows what problems once you get them.

For current players, particularly KI, there is the additional issue of how long they are signed for, if they will extend, etc. AND, making a trade work by NBA rules.

Purely from the viewpoint of projected value, my guess is that you would not trade KI for less than maybe the #2, or the #3+#10.

Also, when we are tossing out opinions about trading or not trading anyone, we tend to get attached to our favorite players, especially if they have been here for long. For example, I (and most of us) would hate to trade Andy, because he plays so hard, is so cool, and has been here the longest. The only time my girlfriend wants to watch BB is when Andy is playing. This despite the fact that it is pretty late in his career.

“There is actually a much bigger unknown factor with draft picks. All those guys might have who knows what problems once you get them.”

This is the reason the proposed trades I’m reading on here for Kyrie are absurd in my opinion. If the Bucks called and offered us the #2 pick and Giannis, I wouldn’t be able to hang up fast enough. Likewise, if the Sixers offered us the #3 and #10. We have a KNOWN ALL-STAR commodity who is only 22 YEARS OLD. I’m not arguing that he doesn’t have warts…he most certainly does. But they are the kind of weaknesses that can improve with experience & maturity. Any trade for Kyrie should return an All-Star coming back to Cleveland. Kyrie isn’t going anywhere for at least another 4 NBA seasons — that’s just how contracts work in the NBA. He’s not turning down WAY more $ in Cleveland to be the FIRST PLAYER EVER to turn down a max extension offer before entering the final year of a rookie-scale deal (since rookie scale deals came into existence in 1995). We are talking about 19 years of history – not a small sample size of players by any means. I don’t care if Kyrie Irving completely hates Cleveland and wants out; he’s still signing a max extension and we have plenty of years to change his mind and build a winning franchise with him as a cornerstone. Or, we can trade him for unknown commodities and hope we get lucky. I just don’t understand why the haste to deal a guy that could easily become the best PG in the NBA within the next 3 seasons.

If we trade the the first pick for Kevin Love, Lamarcus Aldridge, or Joakim Noah I will become a Miami Heat fan, considering Love will leave after one season and most likely the others too.

There are two ways we can be go with this pick that leads to a championship, the 10% we get Lebron route or our own Big 3 through free agency.

LEBRON: For Lebron we can let go Luol Deng and CJ Miles, draft a big man, Joel Embid, be paying him, Kyrie Irving, and Dion Waiters their rookie salaries. We would have a great PG, the best player in this league, and a shot-blocking and hopefully Future all-star in Joel Embid. Lebron coming back wouldn’t be very probable ,but worst comes to worst we KI, Joel Embid, and salary cap space.

FA and the DRAFT: Honestly if let go all of our free agents except for one, preferably Spencer Hawes we could draft a premier player in Wiggins or Embid to go along with KI and Dion. Wiggins would be alright to draft at SG because Dion is better coming of the bench anyway. Lets say we have roughly 20 Million in cap space, With that money we could maybe pick up 2 of these players: Parsons, Stephenson, Greg Monroe, Marcin Gortat, or Nick Young. (Stephenson’s stock has fallen due to his antics in the playoffs) We also have lots of trade pieces like TT, Andy, Bennett, Zeller, etc. to trade for another key player.

We have to clear space on our roster so that we can land a star in free agency to go along with KI and Wiggins/Embid. I think Luol Deng will leave for sure anyways and we should let CJ Miles go. I think Spencer Hawes is relatively young and a solid starter so we shoudl resign him about to about 8 Million a year. We could trade Andy, Zeller, Bennett, Felix, Delledova, etc. for cap space to go along with all that we already have in cap space. That would clear up roughly 20-25 Million in cap space enough for Lebron (not going to happen but I’ll indulge myself) or 2 borderline all stars in free agency like: Parsons, Stephenson, Gortat, Greg Monroe, Gordon Hayward, and/or Nick Young.

We have to clear space on our roster so that we can land a star in free agency to go along with KI and Wiggins/Embid. I think Luol Deng will leave for sure anyways and we should let CJ Miles go. I think Spencer Hawes is relatively young and a solid starter so we shoudl resign him about to about 8 Million a year. We could trade Andy, Zeller, Bennett, Felix, Delledova, etc. for cap space. That would clear up roughly 20-25 Million in cap space enough for Lebron (not going to happen but I’ll indulge myself) or 2 borderline all stars in free agency like: Parsons, Stephenson, Gortat, Greg Monroe, Gordon Hayward, and/or Nick Young.

The Lineup: (Click for Author’s Archive)

Nate Smith is an Associate Editor. He grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and moved to NE Ohio in 2000. He adopted the Cavs in 2003 and graduated from Kent State in 2009 with a BA in English. He can be contacted at oldseaminer@gmail.com or @oldseaminer on Twitter.

Tom Pestak is an Associate Editor. He's from the west side of Cleveland and lives and (mostly) dies by the success and (mostly) failures of his beloved teams. You can watch his fanaticism during Cavs games @tompestak.

Robert Attenweiler is a Staff Writer. Originally from OH, he's long made his home in NYC where he writes plays and screenplays (www.disgracedproductions.com) some of which end up being about Ohio, basketball or both. He has also written for The Classical and the blog Raising the Cadavalier. You can contact him at rattenweiler@gmail.com or @cadavalier.

Benjamin Werth is a Staff Writer. He was born in Cleveland and raised in Mentor, OH. He now lives in Germany where he is an opera singer and actor. He can be reached at blfwerth@gmail.com.

Cory Hughey is a Staff Writer. He grew up in Youngstown, the Gary, Indiana of Ohio. He graduated from Youngstown State in 2008 with a worthless telecommunications degree. He can be contacted at theleperfromwatts@yahoo.com or @coryhughey on Twitter.

David Wood is our Links Editor. He is a 2012 Graduate of Syracuse University with an English degree who loves bikes, beer, basketball, writing, and Rimbaud. He can be reached on Twitter: @nothingwood.

Mallory Factor is the voice of Cavs: The Podcast. By day Mallory works in fundraising and by night he runs a music business company. To see his music endeavors check out www.fivetracks.com. Hit him up at Malloryfactorii@gmail.com or @Malfii.

John Krolik is the Editor Emeritus of Cavs: The Blog. At present, he is pursuing a law degree at Tulane University. You can contact him at johnkrolik@gmail.com or @johnkrolik.

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